Jan 26, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy (left) and head coach Andy Reid against the Buffalo Bills during the AFC Championship game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Chiefs Rookie That Must Start Right Away

Originally posted on Kansas City Chiefs on SI
By Dominic Minchella | Last updated Aug 14, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The Kansas City Chiefs spent the first part of their offseason looking at any and every prospect that would be available to draft in the 2025 NFL Draft. General manager Brett Veach revealed the Chiefs' big board once sat over 200 players, but they had to settle on seven with the number of picks they had.

With the final pick in the first round of the draft process, the Chiefs selected offensive lineman Josh Simmons, who only fell to the Chiefs because of a left patellar knee injury sustained in his senior campaign with the Ohio State Buckeyes. The injury scared off other franchises, but to the Chiefs, they struck gold.

Kansas City's biggest adjustment needed for the franchise following the 2024 campaign was adding to the offensive line. Simmons was widely regarded as one of the best available picks in the draft out of offensive linemen, and 31 other franchises let him fall to the defending AFC champions, who needed an offensive lineman in the worst way.

Going into training camp, head coach Andy Reid revealed that Simmons would be full go. And now that training camp has concluded, Simmons is arguably the best option for the Chiefs at the starting left tackle position.

The Chiefs take on their AFC West division rival, the Los Angeles Chargers, in Week 1 of the regular season in Sao Paulo, Brazil. While the Chiefs signed veteran offensive lineman Jaylon Moore to compete with Simmons for the starting left tackle role, it's clear that Simmons should be the starter in that big overseas game.

Several veterans in the Chiefs organization, whether that be Coach Reid, Coach Nagy, Patrick Mahomes, or even players on the defensive side of the ball like Chris Jones, see the potential that Simmons has. The only thing potentially holding him back was his injury, and it hasn't seemed to be an issue for him throughout training camp.

So long as the injury doesn't flare up and sideline Simmons before the first game of the regular season, the Chiefs should highly consider Simmons as their everyday starting left tackle. While he is bound to make rookie mistakes, it's not often a franchise lands a player who will fix the immediate need from a year ago.

This article first appeared on Kansas City Chiefs on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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